EVANS CITY — Two new members of Evans City council are looking forward to improving communication and getting more good work done for the borough.

Newly elected Councilman Paul Foster said even though he has been living in Evans City for the past 17 years, he is considered a "new guy" in a group where the majority have grown up there, or have lived in the borough for more than 30 years.

Foster said he is trying to start his term off right by establishing good communication between everyone on council.

"I took some time and talked to all of the individuals on council to get a feel for what's going on because they know," Foster said. "It seems like some of the biggest issues are now that the sewer project is over, there are questions in sorting out the relationship between the sewer authority and the borough."

Incumbent Democrat Homer Mercer and Republican Charleen Lippincott were voted off council Nov. 3.

Foster said while that issue gets worked out during the next few months, he would like to see the borough's streets repaved.

As he continues to build relationships with the various members of council, he said he hopes everyone will work in harmony.

"There are a lot of personalities, but you get that with every organization," Foster said. "Everyone seems to be willing to cooperate, so we will see how it all works out."

John McKinney also was elected to council in the November election and said for the past two and a half years as a citizen, he has tried to get council to work together.

"It's pretty hard," McKinney said. "Being a member of the town, they think they run the town, and we had to break them up. By collectively working, we can do more for the town than beating each other in the head."

McKinney said the streets in the borough are bad, but none of the council members want to take leadership to get them fixed.

"They have to work together," McKinney said. "If we don't work together, we will never accomplish anything."

McKinney said as an elected official, he realizes residents of the town voted for him and all the members of council need to follow the wishes of people in the community.

He also said he will work to stop the bickering over the police department, as some members have said they want it shut down to save money. At the same time, that would make response time to any emergency calls much longer.

"They need to let the police do their job," McKinney said. "That has to stop."